


To Come Out of The Closet

by Fire_Bear



Series: Klance Month 2019 [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (though less 'galaxy' and more just planes or whatever), Arguing, Closets, Fights, Fist Fights, Galaxy Garrison, High School, Klance Month 2019, Lots of Arguing, M/M, Minor Violence, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Tension, Violence, or cupboards, the title doesn't really have much to do with the story...?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 22:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18433838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Keith once thought he'd have a quiet time at the Garrison. However, since he's in the middle of a brawl in the nearby town, he's proved himself wrong.What he doesn't need is Lance to turn up and make everythinglouder.





	To Come Out of The Closet

Keith ducked under a fist and felt his own connect on the man’s jaw. The satisfaction of his success and the adrenaline of the fight kept him from feeling where he’d already been hit. No doubt he’d have bruises later, though he didn’t care enough to worry about that. Especially since he seemed to be winning.

Unfortunately, that certainty vanished when one of the thugs kicked at his leg. It was almost a stamping motion and made Keith’s leg buckle immediately. He landed on his knee and had to catch the next boot that came flying at him. Another man took the opportunity to punch him, his fist hitting Keith in the cheek so hard that he could taste blood, his head whipped to the side.

Now that he was on the backfoot with the men surrounding him, Keith realised that he was probably going to be in trouble. For one, he was wearing his cadet uniform, easily connecting him to the Garrison. This sort of behaviour was ‘unacceptable’ and Keith knew he’d probably get into a lot of trouble for this. Not to mention that the only reason he was in town was because of the monthly trip that the Garrison sanctioned for R&R.

But these jerks had bad mouthed not only the Garrison, but also Shiro. After being such a famed and esteemed pilot, Shiro was actually quite famous, all the more so since the crash. It had cost him his arm and his mental health, not to mention scarring his body. Now that he was a teacher, he tried his best to put the students first and was actively involved in the LGBT association, both in the school and outwith. He was also the one that had started the ball rolling with Keith’s application to the Garrison. His fame, however, apparently made him a target for the local down-and-out’s ire. But Keith wasn’t going to stand for their ignorance and spite.

A kick to his gut had Keith doubled over, grunting with pain, a horrid reminder that he was slowly losing control of the situation. The foot swung back before coming for him again, aiming for his head. Keith only just managed to grab the man’s ankle. With a growl, he pulled it, making the man topple over. As the man fell forward towards him, Keith rolled out of the way, scrambling to his feet as the man’s friends stopped their attacks. He paused to catch his breath, eyeing them all, his hands clenched into fists.

“Oh, now you’ve done it,” said one of the men, a large burly thing. His voice was deep and raspy and put Keith in mind of bad guys’ henchmen in movies. He braced himself for more fighting; there was no way Keith was letting these guys best him.

“Hey!” came a voice further down the alley that Keith had been dragged down. All of them turned their heads to look, dumbfounded. Standing at the mouth of the alley, hands on his hips, was another cadet. Brown-skinned and blue-eyed, Lance was doing his best to look stern. Keith resisted the urge to groan in frustration.

A few weeks ago, Keith had been paired with Lance on a science project. It had been awkward at first, both of them unsure how to interact since they’d hardly spoken to each other before. Keith had seen him around and Lance knew of Keith, but it wasn’t an easy start to their presentation. Then they’d had a disagreement which had escalated until they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. They’d grudgingly slapped together something for their assignment and tried to avoid each other for a couple of days. However, Lance apparently couldn’t keep his mouth shut and, when they passed each other in the hall, he started to sling insults at Keith. Most of it was mild, but it still riled Keith more than he thought was possible. Blazing rows between them became commonplace and students had been whispering about it; Keith had even heard a couple of guys in the toilets betting on how long it would be before Keith punched Lance. That was something he had strangely never felt the urge to do, though that was about to change if Lance got involved in this fight.

“What?” snapped one of the men, glowering at Lance.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” Lance said, a small grin on his face, “but you shouldn’t waste your time on him.” He didn’t spare a glance at Keith, cheerfully staring the men down. “Trust me,” he added, “he’s not worth the effort.”

Eyes narrowed, Keith shifted slightly, fully intent on protesting what Lance was saying. However, one of the men turned and stepped closer to Lance, his stance threatening. Keith’s heart stopped for a moment, sure that Lance was about to get hurt by a fight that Keith had started. Breathing heavily, Keith shifted a little more, preparing himself to barrel through the men between him and the guy posturing to Lance.

“Oh, yeah?” said the man. “We’re having plenty of fun beating his ass.”

“Fun enough to go to jail?” Lance asked with a sweet smile. He lifted his hand, within which he held his cell phone. The blue background was covered by the large icon that represented the local cops. Keith’s eyes widened: Lance must have called them before he interrupted.

“Shit!” shouted the closest guy to Keith. “Scatter!”

There was a flurry of activity as the men ran down the alley, away from Lance. At the other end, they split up, some of them going right, others going left and at least one of them crossing the road. Another one, though, took a nearby fire escape and leapt up the stairs, headed for the roof and escape. Keith, meanwhile, was frozen: Lance knew he’d been in trouble with the Garrison top brass before, and now he was about to get Keith in a lot more of it.

Lance laughed, clearly delighted at how fast he’d managed to resolve the situation, even if Keith was trying not to panic. “They’re not so tough, huh?” he said to Keith, apparently oblivious to what he’d just done - or else he knew too well and was pleased. Keith knew that Lance thought that Keith was in his way, had said as much. Maybe he had called the cops so that Keith would be thrown out of the Garrison.

“We need to go, too,” Keith snapped, striding towards Lance with a scowl.

“What, is this the thanks I get?” Lance asked, his smile vanishing. His expression dropped into one Keith knew well: dislike with a side of frustration.

“Thanks for setting the police on me?” Keith folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow, aware that there was no way he could get away from this. Lance would be contacted by the cops even if they walked away right now.

Rolling his eyes, Lance lifted his hand again. “Dude, chill. It’s just a picture.”

“What?” Keith blinked at the phone, squinting at it.

“It’s a picture, to make it _look_ like I’m calling the cops. I figured we’d get into trouble if I actually called the cops.” Lance gave Keith a narrow-eyed look. “I’m not _stupid_.”

Keith snorted. “Sure,” he said, looking away.

“Seriously? Dude, I literally _just_ stopped you from getting your ass kicked.” Lance waved his hands as if that would emphasise his point, something Keith found irritating somehow.

“I had it handled,” Keith insisted.

“It didn’t _look_ like it,” Lance snapped, crossing his arms. “Looked more like you were gonna wake up after curfew in a hospital from where I was standing.”

“Shut up.”

“And then you’d be expelled, of course. Not that I’d care about _that_.”

“If you didn’t care,” Keith exclaimed, “you should’ve just left me alone!”

“Fine!” Lance yelled, putting his hands on his hips. “Next time I will!”

“Good!”

“Yeah!”

They glared at each other for a few moments. Keith’s heart was beating far too fast for the situation. He knew it wasn’t from the fight, but his argument with Lance wasn’t as dangerous so it shouldn’t feel as though it was. It felt as if he was on the cusp of a realisation that he didn’t want, so he shoved it aside and stoked his anger. This boy was infuriating, and his smart-ass comments even more so. Keith felt the very strong urge to grab hold of Lance and shake him.

Thankfully, he was saved from doing that by Lance turning on his heel. “You’re ruining the trip,” Lance said over his shoulder, not even bothering to look at Keith.

“I wasn’t the one-”

But Lance wasn’t listening. He stuck his nose in the air and began to stalk off. “Stay outta my way,” Lance called to him over his shoulder.

Keith ground his teeth together as he watched Lance march off. If Lance didn’t want to interact with him, Keith was fine with that. He wouldn’t go out of his way to speak to him. However, if Lance thought that Keith would take that sort of disrespect in the corridors any more, Keith would show him how wrong he was.

* * *

Two days later, Keith was walking between classes when he spotted Lance. He was with some engineers and pilots, both in his own classes and outwith them. Apparently, Lance was a very personable student, chatting away to his classmates and teachers alike. Keith had never seen him without anyone, which cast his solitude in a stark contrast. It meant that there were always witnesses if anyone ever wanted to get Lance on his own. Scowling, Keith took a breath, prepared to pass Lance by; after a couple of days to cool down, he realised that he had to let what had happened in town go. There was no reason to let Lance’s behaviour to get to him so he had resolved to ignore Lance.

However, Lance and his friends seemed to head towards one of the intersecting corridors, clearly intent on going that way. Keith was heading straight on, so he breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was dashed when the group paused, Lance exchanged a few words with them, and they split. Lance continued heading towards Keith, likely heading for the bathrooms that Keith had just passed.

When Lance saw who he was approaching, his eyes widened. Keith frowned at him, wondering what he would say. Instead of speaking, however, Lance merely sneered at him, as if he thought Keith wasn’t worth his breath. Something within Keith snapped at that, and he sped up to intercept him.

Just as they both came up beside a door that Keith knew led to a cupboard, he grabbed hold of Lance’s arm and yanked him into it, his other hand firmly pushing the door open. Lance yelped as he was dragged in. Keith ignored him till he’d gotten them both inside and closed the door. He let Lance go then as the lights automatically came on, sensing their movement.

Metal shelves surrounded them, each of them containing stationary or wires or tools. An old, disused TV had been stashed in the corner, gathering dust under the boxes that crowded around it and sprawled into the limited floor space. Above them, the lights blinked and flickered, struggling to do their job. The tiny room forced them to be closer than they’d ever been before, especially when Lance turned to Keith with his hands on his hips.

“What the cheese, Keith?” Lance snapped, scowling.

Now that they were in there, Keith realised that he had no idea why he’d dragged him inside. Still, he folded his arms across his chest and shifted so that he cocked a hip. “I don’t like the way you’ve been looking at me.”

“ _What_?” said Lance in obvious disbelief. “And you _kidnapped_ me to tell me that?”

Keith sighed heavily. “I didn’t _kidnap_ you,” he protested. “This is exactly why I can't stand you.”

“Then why did you bring me here!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. He only narrowly avoided upending a pile of notebooks on top of himself.

“Because you’ve been looking at me as if you think you’re better than me!” yelled Keith, fury coursing through him.

Lance visibly faltered. “What?” he said, quieter than before. Keith blinked at him, confused. Why did Lance seem so surprised? “Are you stupid?” Lance asked, still sounding perplexed.

“What?” Keith snapped, offended.

“Urgh, you are, aren't you?” Lance groaned, letting his head drop back so that he was directing the sound to the ceiling. “God, that makes it so much worse.”

Bewildered and frustrated, Keith grasped for a response. “Makes _what_ worse?!” Keith’s voice rose with his question, clinging to his anger.

Rolling his eyes, Lance waved Keith’s words aside. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Because you think I’m stupid?”

“Aren’t you? Who starts a fight when they’re wearing a uniform?!”

“I wasn’t the one who started that!” Keith cried, throwing his arms in the air. He almost hit Lance in the face, but the taller boy leaned back a little at the last second. “And I thought we weren’t talking about it!”

“Nuh uh!” Lance raised a finger and poked Keith in the chest. “I’m definitely gonna hold this over you for the rest of your life.”

“What’re you gonna do, _stalk_ me?!”

“What-? No! Just-! Urgh! You’re so infuriating!” Lance gave Keith another poke.

With a barely suppressed growl, Keith grabbed hold of Lance’s wrist, squeezing till Lance winced. Then he flung Lance’s hand away from him; he was pleased to see Lance flexing his fingers as he let his arm drop. “You’re worse!” Keith snapped.

“I am not!”

“You are! You think you can- you can just- Just…!”

“‘Just’ what?” Lance demanded.

“Just… Just _skate through_ this school!” Keith was vaguely aware that he was shouting, but Lance’s voice was just as loud, so he didn’t care. “You’re always… I don’t know, goofing off or whatever. Schmoozing your way through your projects, expecting other people to do them.”

Lance’s eyes widened for a moment, his anger disappearing. For a moment, his eyes seemed to shine. Keith blinked: had those eyes always been so blue? Then the anger returned, clouding over the glimpse of sky Keith had seen. Lance dared to take a step forward, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder and shoving him, hard enough that Keith stumbled backwards into the shelves behind. Something poked into his back, enough to hurt, so he stepped forward and into Lance’s space, scowling at him.

“You have no idea-!” Lance began, voice too loud again.

“Then how do you know anything about me!” Keith yelled.

“I know enough!”

“Then you don’t need to know anything more!”

“Fine!”

“Good!”

Just as Lance took a breath to yell back, they both heard a noise from outside. They froze, neither of them looking away from the other. Outside, they heard footsteps drawing closer. If they were both found in the cupboard, they were going to be in deep trouble, Keith more so than Lance. Thankfully, Lance evidently didn’t want to be caught, for he merely stayed where he was, staring at Keith.

Those blue eyes, no longer clouded by hatred and anger, were bright and beautiful. Keith couldn’t tear his own away. His heart was beating faster than normal and he felt slightly breathless from their argument. Staring at Lance was a little disconcerting - something made his heart squeeze - and he had to look away as the noises outside grew louder.

He found himself staring at Lance’s lips. They were parted slightly, surprised by the situation they had found themselves in. Keith thought they looked plump and red; he wondered if Lance used make-up to make them look so bright and noticeable. Curious, Keith leaned closer, feeling as though something was drawing him in. Lance’s lips parted a little more. Maybe he was imagining it, but Keith thought he felt Lance’s breath on his own lips. Outside, the footsteps grew even louder - and passed them by.

For a while, both of them stayed still, waiting. Keith’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. Eventually, Keith realised that they were safe. No-one was about to wrench open the door and admonish them for- Keith halted his train of thought as he realised where it was going and how their situation could look to anyone else. His eyes found Lance’s wide ones , as he tried to work out what to do next.

But Lance was clearly quicker on the uptake. Before Keith could say or do anything, Lance turned to the door, his shoulder knocking into Keith’s since they were so close together. Keith stumbled back into the shelves again; he had to dodge a tangle of cables that fell from above him. Lance wasn’t stopping, though, and he yanked the door open. The lights above them brightened with their movement, just enough to send a glow around Lance as he fled.

Keith let himself sag against the shelves, letting them prop him up as the door swung shut. His eyes didn’t leave the door. He wasn’t sure he was breathing. His heart fluttered at the memory of Lance’s eyes. Realisation at the way his thoughts had wandered had horror and mortification rising within him. He clutched at the metal behind him.

Had he really been about to kiss _Lance_?

**Author's Note:**

> Several feet away, in the nearby toilets, Lance is having a crisis, just like Keith is, heh.


End file.
